


Newton's Laws

by pwej



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 14:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21282917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pwej/pseuds/pwej
Summary: “An object, unless acted upon by a net force, is either at rest or travelling at a constant velocity.”
Relationships: Itsuki Shuu/Nito Nazuna
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Newton's Laws

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is legit 2 years old and i just finished it today to try and get past my writing block  
it has no beta and idk if it's even canon compliant anymore because i haven't read enstars stories in so long dude as i say this is 2 years old i don't even care anymore LMAOOOO sorry

“An object, unless acted upon by a net force, is either at rest or travelling at a constant velocity.”

Valkyrie was once unstoppable.

Shu was once unstoppable.

A student who presented himself as a master, a genius in many regards, he needn’t concern himself with the weak; the vulgar masses he gave no choice but to bend to his will - offer their limbs to his strings and dance with his tune, follow his steps closely with utmost precision or be discarded and left a crumpled pile in his wake. 

His work was fine tuned, himself moreso, every detail slaved over until his standards were well met; nothing could be anything other than perfection, to be so meant absolute failure, tarnishing his vision and name in ways he could and would not accept. 

Every flaw must be eradicated, their existences removed and variables accounted for in his plans; Nito would not talk so that he could not stutter, Shu would not allow his sweet Pinocchio to be discoloured with a voice below his standards, and Kagehira. Kagehira’s place was towards the background, obscured slightly by his seniors, his voice and footwork still discordant, yet to have found harmony in each other and so must be dealt with individually. 

Recording their voices was truly the only conclusion Shu could make, allowed him time to stuff the straw back into Kagehira’s body and train his joints, leaving him only having to concern himself with their physical presentation over their vocal performance. He had no doubts or troubles with his own abilities, completely certain that the only problems lay outside of himself. 

Valkyrie acted as a single unit, a well oiled machine with every cog crafted to run flawlessly, an object of his design - a force to be reckoned with.

Until the day it wasn’t.

If Shu didn’t feel such a burning, unsuppressable hatred for everything Tenshouin Eichi was he would almost commend him on his reprehensible, despicable, downright detestable plan. Almost.

He truly hated hindsight in these moments, how it condescendingly pointed out every mistake or failure he had made. How it tells him how he should have listened - listened to his dear friend’s warnings, listened to the rumours and the fine print in each of the student council’s new orders and, most importantly, listened to what Nito had desperately been trying to tell him all along.

He could’ve avoided this.

Avoided the burning humiliation and shame, the echoing taunts and jeers that he cannot quite distinguish beyond his own thoughts; he’s uncertain whether the voices belong to the crowd or the memories flooding his mind, part of him wishing this time would mimic those, that Ryuu-kun would come to save him and those voices would be silenced so he could feel safe once more.

But the relief never came, there were no childhood friends on that stage, there was no salvation nor redemption for him. He was ruined in a single instance, his dolls caught up in his tangled strings, all three of them condemned by the same arrogance that brought them so far. 

And they were not the only ones.

It would make sense that Tenshouin would not be satisfied with a single slaughter, he had created ‘the five oddballs’ for a reason; it was easier to hunt what had been tagged, to divide and conquer what you do not have the brute strength to overpower. The world would be destroyed and the foundations rebuilt, and the oddballs would be the martyrs-made-examples that would cement Tenshouin’s rule - if the strongest would fall to him, then how would those who looked to them stand a chance.

The only thing for him was seclusion, fall back into a house fit for his design; one where the words oddball and fine may never harm him again. He could create for his true dolls, the ones who would never need direction nor feel the all consuming terror of failure, where he could have his work appreciated and displayed beautifully - could have his feelings freed without concern for the words he could not bring himself to say in his own voice.

Kagehira didn’t seem to question Mademoiselle’s new role, seemed to welcome her as easily as he accepted Shu’s other eccentricities, just as he never questioned his role nor the future of Valkyrie. He would leave for Yumenosaki without Shu, would come back each day speaking of all the work he did that day for them - he did not stop as Shu had. He ticked like clockwork, a routine reliable and sturdy, never faltering in the quest for what was once their shared goal.

His true dolls would not leave. Kagehira did not leave.

Nito did not stay.

And that perhaps is what shattered Shu. His most beloved leaving his side, recognising that his old puppet master was no longer fit to mould his beauty, his little songbird had grown out of his cage.

Wataru had told him of his conversation with Nito; traitor that he was, Shu could not help but consider him a comrade and a friend enough to keep contact - though he had seriously reconsidered once Wataru had told him he had encouraged Nito to find his own path, had it not been enough to join Tenshouin?!

But just as it had shattered him, it had also set his mind in motion. If Nito would not stay idle, if Nito would find a new way to fight, then he must too - if it would show his beloved Nito that Valkyrie was where he belonged, where he would thrive, then he would keep moving forward. 

It was an interesting reverse of positions, he would admit, for a creator to follow their creation - if anything showed the perfection of his Nito even clearer, but for now that perfection could not be appreciated. Shu must show Nito what he had left behind.

To many, Shu was no different in his 3rd year than his 2nd - he was still haughty, still carried a doll, still spent the majority of his time in his clubroom. But he came without the power he once held, came with a sense of shame that he refused to accept, came with a vengeance he would fulfil.

He was without his comrades in his class, but he made sure to keep contact - made sure he would not miss the rebellion, the revolution, he would man the guillotine and would see Tenshouin speak his last words.

He would also see Nito. He would see Nito with the adorable 1st years (he always did have the perfect taste, afterall he was perfect Nito), he would see Nito smile from afar, he would see Nito succeed and stumble alike. He would see Nito as a human, his Pinocchio that would exchange wood for flesh and stuffing for a heart. He would see Nito like he had never had the privilege of seeing him, and he would see that Nito was more perfect like this than ever.

Nito would see him in kind, of course - though he would not hear the words of pride directly, he understood Shu well enough to know what his criticisms meant. Still, he deserved more. Shu knew this even as he hid, when he admitted to himself he was hiding, he knew that they would need to talk soon of their past and future together.

He knew there would be a future too, that they would take down Tenshouin together as they were always meant to.

But the future would not be as they had thought in that not so distant past, where they were but a doll and its master.

They would both be humans, with their own hearts and choices and freedom, and that was what they were meant to be. Equals, with a shared goal and different ways of achieving it, always strongest together.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”


End file.
